Pins and Needles - Anxiety?

[tomgajerry]

Hello,

Hope you are all well; I personally am. I'm wondering if anyone has had any experience with what I'm feeling, and whether they could provide some insight.

I've always been a pretty self-conscious person - conscious and often actively thinking of what others consider of me appearance-wise and also in terms of what I think my 'name' means to them when I am not present. I've also always been competitive - eager to put in work to achieve some sort of goal, whether it be awards, recognition, or more recently, personal satisfaction. For this reason, and being fortunate enough to have had an educated upbringing, I have always done well in academics and co-curricular, and am currently studying medicine full-time whilst doing private tutoring as a job. I work on average 20 hours a week during the uni semester. (Not sure how relevant these last two sentences were, but just added them for info).

Recently however, perhaps halfway through this year, I noticed that whenever I think of others, I often think of their perception of me (consciously, or subconsciously). This wouldn't have been out of the ordinary during times when I was younger, but I began to feel pins and needles whenever this self-conscious side of me props up, especially in my neck, trunk and thighs. I don't quite mind if I unavoidably become self-conscious whenever seeing others or thinking of others, but the pins and needles are quite discomforting, and I sometimes have to scratch, ventilate, contract my body, or pause what I'm doing for a little bit, until they reside.

Has anyone had a similar problem and what are your experiences with this?

Thanks in advance, hope you're all staying healthy 🙂

[Kailani]

Hi tomgajerry's! Sounds like u have worked very hard to achieve what u have. U should be very proud of your accomplishments. As for being self-conscious I can relate, for as long as I remember I have been worried about what others think of me. I hope u are coping alright with the worry/anxiety associated with being self-conscious. In regard to the tingling, at times when I am especially anxious I get tingling in my fingers which radiates into my arms. This can be difficult as I often cannot hold things in my hands while the tingling is present. Also during a panic attack I often feel tingling all over my body. While I am not sure of the physiological reason for this, I would assume it would be your body's reaction to increased stress and a lack of oxygen (due to short breath/hyperventilation associated with anxiety). I hope this response helps u in some capacity. Remember u are not alone in this fight and this community is always here for u!